DETROIT (AP) — The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson away from Detroit, hoping he could help Caleb Williams become a consistent quarterback and turn around a franchise that hasn't had a winning record in several years.
So far, not so good.
The Detroit Lions routed Chicago 52-21 on Sunday, showing their former offensive coordinator that they're just fine on offense without him.
“We have a lot of prideful guys,” Johnson said. “We’re two games into the season. We’re committed to getting this thing right. I have a lot of belief in them.”
A week after losing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter at home to Minnesota, the Bears never led and were dominated on both sides of the ball.
“It’s not really necessarily surprising or anything like that," Williams said. “New coach. New offense. A bunch of new players, and we’re all trying to figure it out.”
Clearly, they've got a lot of work to do.
Williams started strong for the second straight week, going 9 of 11 for 79 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter.
And once again, he faded and looked a lot like he did during an uneven rookie season after Chicago chose him No. 1 overall in 2024.
Williams finished 19 of 30 for 207 yards with two touchdown passes to Rome Odunze, tying the game in the opening quarter and pulling the Bears within a touchdown in the second.
He threw some errant passes and made at least one, ill-advised decision to pass the ball downfield in the face of pressure instead of throwing it out of bounds in the second quarter.
The Bears turned the ball over twice in the first half, leading to a 28-14 deficit. They turned it over on downs in each half and had eight penalties, including some for false starts after that was a problem in Week 1.
“We’re not going to hang our heads and get down,” Johnson said. “It’s one game. We’re going to be just fine.”
Williams was taken out midway through the fourth quarter because Johnson said the game was out of reach.
“Your guys are on the field and you’re not, and that’s frustrating,” Williams said. “It’s Coach's decision and you have to move on from it.”
The Lions rushed Williams aggressively and they had four sacks, a week after not having one in a loss to Green Bay.
“We were taking punches,” Williams said.
Chicago's defense did, too.
The Lions had more than 500 yards on offense with five passing touchdowns and two scores on the ground for the first time in franchise history, and averaged a team-record 8.8 yards per play with offensive coordinator John Morton calling plays instead of Johnson.
The Lions were three points from matching a franchise record for points in a game in the regular season, and the Bears were three points from tying the most they’ve allowed.
It was not the return to Detroit that Johnson wanted, but he insisted it won't get him down.
“It is not demoralizing at all,” Johnson insisted. “We have to play better.”
The Bears will have to hope to get some banged-up players back on defense before they host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Starting defensive back Kyler Gordon (hamstring) was inactive, then linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and defensive back Jaylon Johnson (groin) left the game with injuries in Detroit.
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